


I've always been a smart girl (but "smart girl" only gets a girl so far)

by aletterinthenameofsanity



Series: this could be good (love is patient, love is kind) [31]
Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Jungle Fury, Power Rangers Project Orion
Genre: Abby becomes the tech for her own team, Abby is born in 2013, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Aromantic Character, BAMF Women, Bisexual Male Character, Character Development, Character Study, Daughters, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Mentors, Nerdiness, Post-Canon, Relationship Development, Team as Family, Women Being Awesome, also Female Red Ranger, also didn't realize this, and I don't think I've seen one of those before, and isn't evil, and then got severely attached, because Saban can fight me in a Denny's parking lot, but Female Green Ranger, for character development reasons, this is designed to function in a similiar 'legacy' capacity to Dino Thunder's structure, when your author invents an entire team of power rangers, who is a POC and is a permanent part of the team
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-07 08:39:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16850791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aletterinthenameofsanity/pseuds/aletterinthenameofsanity
Summary: When whispers of monsters showing up in a nearby town start to pop up in the first year of Abby's Master's degree, she packs her bags and takes her research grant, her mother's Morpher glasses, and a few old papers and tools to the town.Abby christens her project "Operation Orion" because she has a strange sense of humor and because she's modelled each of the main Morphing powers after a different Greek god's.It doesn't take too long to find people to become her Rangers.A girl named Reagan Jefferson, with dark coily hair and a red hoodie and a sheer determination to save the world, grabs one of Abby's makeshift Morphing staffs and Morphs into the Red Orion Ranger. In quick succession Abby gathers four teenage Rangers to fill her team- Reagan Jefferson, Red Ranger; Jacob Xi, Blue Ranger; Peter Churchill, Black Ranger; and Christina Velasquez, Yellow Ranger.(A character study of Abby Martin, daughter of Rangers who took her parents' teachings and her love of science and turned them into the Morphers that would save a town.)(Also- not much knowledge of Jungle Fury necessary, just a love of Power Rangers.)





	I've always been a smart girl (but "smart girl" only gets a girl so far)

**Author's Note:**

> Title and lyrics from within fic are from "My Grand Plan" from the Lightning Thief Musical. To be honest, it's pretty much the anthem for this fic.
> 
>  
> 
> Full disclaimer: This started off as what was planned to be about a 1000 word chapter of a 5+1 fic about the daughters of Power Rangers. And then I got a small idea- Abby's love of science and how her parents being Rangers allowed her access to being able to interview Power Rangers/study certain Morphing technologies- and then this exploded and suddenly there was character development and an entire new Ranger team and, well, this is the product.
> 
>  
> 
> Also if anyone wants a fancast:  
> Nicole Gale Anderson as Abby Martin  
> Samantha Marie Ware as Reagan Jefferson  
> Nick Robinson as Peter Churchill  
> Ryan Potter as Jacob Xi  
> Alberto Rosende as Mordred  
> Isabella Gomez as Christina Velasquez  
> Zachary Gibson as Chris Harrigan
> 
> Also, the main section of this story, once the section in "Winter Springs" starts, takes place in about 2035, just for timeline coordination.

_I've always been a smart girl_

_Always made the grade, always got the gold star_  
  
_I've always been a smart girl_

_But "smart girl" only gets a girl so far_

 

Abby Martin has seen the animal spirits of her parents and her uncles and her aunt. She knows what it feels like to summon the lion spirit from within her chest, to let it coat every aspect of her being and give her strength and armor that no ordinary human could dream of.

But her parents also teach her with the responsibility of such abilities, of the power they wield.

Abby grows up in a dojo, in the academy, and in a pizza parlor. She is all too familiar with the importance of balance, of not putting too much stock in one belief system over another. She is taught compromise, taught faith in herself, taught martial arts and pizza-making and dance techniques and multiple languages.

And most importantly, she is taught the power a single person has to save the world, if they only have the right people supporting them.

-

Abby's known her cousin Bridge all her life. He's only about five years older than her, and when she watches him head off to SPD, she wonders if he'll become a Ranger like her parents and her uncles.

She goes to her mom, who to this day still likes that yellow hoodie of hers. “Mom,” Abby says, “Is Bridge going to become a Power Ranger like you?”

Her mother laughs, bearing a brilliant smile that Abby's Dad says most Yellow Rangers have. Abby's Dad says it's the kind that can make anybody feel better, can fill the darker soul with sunshine, and Abby agrees. “He probably is, sweetie,” Her mom says.

“What color do you think he’ll be?”

“Well, it all depends, doesn’t it?” Her mom asks, running her fingers through Abby’s hair. Abby’s not gonna pretend that she doesn’t like it just because she’s ten.

“Depends on what, Mom?”

“Whether or not S.P.D. treats Bridge's powers as a good thing or a bad thing."

"They're definitely a good thing, Mom," Abby informs her mother, and her mom nods.

"I know, sweetie," her mom says, "But some people don't understand that." 

-

Abby’s parents’ Marks surround their Master stripes, but her Uncle Casey’s don’t. He doesn’t have his stripes, and he isn't working on projects for the Order of the Claw. Instead, he is running the dojo in town and helping Uncle RJ make sure JKP's doesn't fall into ruin.

“You don’t have to earn your Marks, Abby," Casey tells her, a strange glint in his eyes, "You just have to be yourself, be willing to learn, and everything will follow just as it should."

But Abby doesn't have any Marks at all. She's Soulless, and she doesn't really have any interest in acquiring herself a Soulmate. Neither her parents nor her Uncles and Aunt look down on her for it, though; instead, they encourage her to find her own way, whatever that may be. Her Uncle Casey even introduces her to Noah Carver of the Megaforce team, Rose Ortiz of Operation Overdrive, and Sarah Thompson of Ninja Steel. They're all incredible people who became Power Rangers, who have made names for themselves in the sciences and made tech for successful Ranger teams over the years.

Then Uncle RJ does Uncle Casey one better: he introduces her to  _Billy motherfucking Cranston_ himself, the original Blue Ranger, the guy who helped Uncle RJ develop the Jungle Fury Morphers.

"Hey, kid," Billy ( _motherfucking_ ) Cranston says to her twelve-year-old self, who stares at him like he's a superhero (because holy shit, that's  **Billy. Motherfucking. Cranston. The Original Soulless Ranger.** Who developed the tech for the original Power Ranger team and  _kinda_ helped make her parents Rangers). "Heard you were having problems with being Soulless."

"Nah, no problems," Abby says honestly, "But it is  _so cool_ to finally meet you. You're, like, the  _original_ Ranger tech! You're so awesome! Did you really travel to another planet? Do you still work in science? Oh my god, do you know Rose or Noah or Sarah? Please tell me you talk to the other Ranger techs-"

Billy just laughs. "You're certainly enthusiastic."

"Well, no offense, Mr. Cranston," Abby says, "But you developed the tech for the original Power Ranger team. That's really, really awesome."

"Call me Billy," Billy says, "Only my doctoral students use my last name, and that's always with the "Doctor" prefix." And he's a  _Doctor_ \- this day just keeps getting better. "So you like tech? Don't think that me being a Power Ranger is cool?"

Abby shrugs. "Mom and Dad and Uncle Casey and Uncle RJ and Uncle Dom are all Rangers- that's nothing. That's normal. But only Uncle RJ is a tech guy, and he's pretty much distracted by pizza and Pai Zhua nowadays.  _You're_ the original tech guy, a doctor and everything-  _that's_ awesome."

Billy smiles at her, and it doesn't feel condescending like her science teacher's sometimes does. Instead, he seems to genuinely enjoy her love for tech. "Wanna ask me anything?"

"Do I  _ever_."

-

Bridge returns to JKP's one day when Abby's seventeen and working as a waitress, earning money to pay for college. (She got into CIT with her project analyzing the scientific theory behind the Morphing Grid and its affect on various Rangers, from their weapons capabilities to their advanced healing rates to their increase in body mass and strength.) He has four people in tow- two women and two men- and he's holding hands with-

Wait a moment. His hands are bare, and he has his fingers entwined with the tall man and the brunette woman. Abby's never seen him touching someone's bare skin before, not hers or her parents or even her Aunt Maddie's.

She scoots over to his booth, where she finds him sitting between the two women. "Welcome to JKP's," she says.

Bridge smiles, and he's always had a brilliant grin but here, with these people, it is warm. It is kind. It is everything her mom's smile is when she's looking at Abby's Dad, everything Uncle Casey's is when he looks at Uncle RJ. "Hey, Abby," Bridge says, voice as cheery as always.

And Abby knows who these four must be.

-

When Abby retreats to the kitchen and tells Uncle Casey to get his ass out to the dining area because Bridge wants to see him, she finds herself with Chris, Aunt Fran's son, and Uncle RJ staring at her. "Why is Casey booking it out there like Dai Shi's reappeared?" Uncle RJ asks, and not for the first time Abby stares at her Uncle and his eternally-zen way of speaking and finds herself seriously questioning whether he's stoned. Weed's legalized nationally now, but they  _do_ live in California, after all, the historical hotbed of pot.

"Because Bridge brought all his Soulmates to visit, including that new one he only mentions in e-comms," Abby answers succinctly. She's learned to get to the point with Uncle RJ, because otherwise, no matter the subject, he'll somehow manage to drag her into a discussion that reveals deep truths about herself and the world. And as she's in the middle of a shift, she doesn't really need that right now.

Uncle RJ pokes his out the door and a few seconds later withdraws into the kitchen again. "Ah," he says, "It looks like Rangering's going to run in the family."

Abby raises an eyebrow. "What?"

"Didn't you notice, Abs?" Uncle RJ asks with a knowing smile, "All of his Soulmates are wearing their colors."

Abby mentally recalls what colors Bridge's Soulmates were wearing and-

"Oh shit," she says, "His  _whole team_?"

"Looks like," Chris chimes in, as he has also made his way to the door.

"That's gotta be a bit much," Abby says.

Uncle RJ shrugs. "Soulmate relationships work out no matter what the dynamics are," Uncle RJ says, "Trust me, I know."

Abby remembers the stories Uncle RJ and Uncle Casey have told her about their time as Rangers and can't help but agree. If Uncle Casey and Uncle RJ can survive their crazy Soulmate journey, then Bridge and his Soulmates can surely figure out whatever's going on with them.

-

When whispers of monsters showing up in a town called Winter Springs start to pop up in Abby's first year of her Master's degree, she packs her bags and takes her research grant, her mother's Morpher glasses, and a few old papers and tools to the town. She moves into an apartment on the poorer side of town and begins to work at a local pizza shop- years at working at JKP's  _are_ useful, in the end.

Abby christens her new (well,  _new_ is a bit of a misleading word, as it implies that she just started, when she's been working on developing Morphers since freshman year of college) project "Operation Orion" because she has a strange sense of humor and because she's modelled each of the main Morphing powers after a different Greek god's- the Red Ranger controls electricity, the Blue Ranger can manipulate water molecules, the Black Ranger can create realistic illusions, and the Yellow Ranger can change the lighting of any area they're in, making the light dark and the dark light. They all carry the other advantages the Grid gives them, such as increased healing speeds and increased strength.

It doesn't take too long to find people to become her Rangers.

It takes her exactly one battle to coordinate the cameras in the city long enough to find Reagan Jefferson, a girl with dark coily hair and a red hoodie, fighting the base monsters. Her fighting style's a bit dirty, and definitely untrained, but Abby was raised on stories of her uncle KC and how little he knew going into being a ranger. She knows that some of the best Reds in history came out of similarly novice experiences, and that all somebody needs to be a Red is the potential to be a leader and a sheer determination to save others. It takes only one battle- that Abby wins UnMorphed, holy shit- to convince Abby to track her down through the city cameras, meet the girl, and offer her the Red Orion Morpher. 

(Reagan isn't convinced by her at first, but then Abby explains her family's history and her other Morphers and Reagan, thankfully takes the Morpher.)

Soon enough, Abby picks up three more Rangers to fill her team. First to join Reagan is Peter Churchill, son of two lawyers who Abby finds defending his high school from what they've now learned are called Varixes, using nothing but a few of his theatre department's prop swords. He becomes the Black Ranger and he's really good at mastering the illusions- go figure, he's an actor- as well as fighting with the blade that she has adapted to work with the Black Morpher's powers.

(Abby can't help but notice the cold air between him and Reagan, though, the tension that sometimes bubbles over into actual arguing and fighting. She hopes that the Blue and Yellow Rangers, wherever they are, will help smooth things along a bit.)

It takes a couple of weeks, but then come Jacob Xi and Christina Velasquez, Soulmates who learned martial arts from Jacob's aunt. Abby's out grabbing pizza for her, Reagan, and Peter when Varixes attack the pizza shop (and excuse you, pizza shops are  _sacred_ , how  _dare_ those monsters) when the two teenagers run out of the store and end up fighting the Varixes, coordination with each other insane despite their respective differences in movement. 

Reagan and Peter arrive on scene within a few minutes, but Jacob and Christina have taken care of the lot by the time they get to Abby. This leads to Abby offering the teens the two remaining Morphers, and Jacob claims the Blue Morpher while Christina takes the Yellow.

Abby's team comes from all walks of life, with different experiences and fighting styles and motivations, but when Abby thinks about all the Rangers she's interviewed she thinks the teams that worked best were the ones that start off different and fight somewhat at first but then bring different ideas to the table and in the end all end up changing each other. 

So she's got her four Rangers, and she hopes that'll be enough.

-

They meet the two Big Bads within a few weeks, and only one of the two freaks Abby out through her surveillance systems.

Abby knows of humanoid monsters. There been many teams in the past that have been counted them, including her parents' own team. She's met Camille before. She knows what monsters and demons can look like.

But Mordred is just so fucking ordinary. He has dark hair and olive skin, dresses in black slacks and a white button-down. The only not human things about him are his poisonous green eyes and the ring of metal that wraps around his hair like a strange platinum hair band.

At least The Biggest Bad- Morgana- on the other hand, although she has the body shape and vague facial features of a human, does not carry any so disconcertingly familiar features. Her skin is entirely dark blue, with a strange almost leather like texture to it. Her eyes aren't entirely white, with no pupil or iris to speak of. She dresses in extravagant brown and green and blue garments, ones that often mimic some sort of natural disaster.

And Abby's team gets thoroughly thrashed the first time they fight Morgana (which isn't unexpected- Abby's heard plenty of stories from her parents and her Uncle Casey about the first time they went up against Dai Shi and Uncle Casey got pummelled and poisoned, and hey, at least Abby's team doesn't get poisoned, only pummeled) and the fight ends with Peter and Christina collapsing out of their Morphs and Reagan and Jacob having to retreat and take them back to the base.

Abby resolves to figure out the story behind Mordred and Morgana- and why a nature spirit in California had taken on the name of a Celtic myth- after her team has sorted through their issues working and fighting together. 

-

Reagan and Peter are at odds again. Peter said something stuck-up that Reagan took issue with, and Abby's getting yet another headache. Her Black and her Red never seem to stop arguing, and she's heard stories about tension in teams- Ninja Storm's and S.P.D's B-Squad teams have given her some very stressing anecdotes about it- but this is _insane_. 

Christina and Jacob seem to be on Abby's side- that is,  _neither_ side- but that isn't too much of a reassurance when Abby's Red is constantly fighting with her Black. Constructive conflict is good, but this is too much. Abby isn't entirely sure how to intervene, though- she's not good with conflict  _at all_ , hates to fight with anyone, and she knows she should stop them from fighting but she hates confrontation.

But then Reagan hits something far too deep to be ignored as an ordinary fight. 

"You don't know what it's like to be hated by the people who are supposed to love you!" Reagan shouts, and Abby's a bit shocked by the sheer vitriol in Reagan's voice. That seems a bit too personal an attack, her tone far too bitter and dark, for what  _was_  just an argument about team planning.

Peter stares at Reagan, a dark look in his eyes that Abby recognizes from Master Jarrod's eyes when he goes into the 'Bad Place.' "Trust me, I know better than you think," Peter says, "You may think I'm just some spoiled rich boy, but we've all got our issues, Jefferson."

Reagan stares at him, and something like understanding passes between them. Abby nearly sighs in relief. She barely has a hold on this team as it is- they don't need all this tension and conflict.

But then Abby looks down at her teams' arms, at the way that Christina and Jacob- who are Soulmates- keep their arms bared while Peter and Reagan both keep theirs covered, Reagan with her hoodies and Peter with that blazer he wears everywhere.

And she wonders what they might be hiding. 

-

Secrets keep piling up. Reagan's backstory, Peter and Reagan's Soulmates, where the fuck Abby is going to find a way to make a fifth Morpher because no team has ever won with only four Rangers- 

-

Reagan opens up to Abby after a particularly bad monster attack that left Peter and Christina trapped in hallucinations until Abby, Reagan, and Jacob figured out how to help them escape the monster's influence.

"A year ago, my Soulmarks vanished from my arm and I wasn't sure what had happened to Harry. I had graduated high school a year early and I didn't really give a shit about back home, so I went hunting around and it turns out a Harry Leonard, age 17, was killed in the initial attacks by Morgana on Winter Springs."

"Oh no," Abby says, "I'm sorry."

Reagan's gaze is far away, and she doesn't seem to have registered Abby's words. "A few months I woke up with some stranger's ink on my arm."

Abby's breath catches in her throat. "You got a new Soulmate." She's heard about it happening, but has never seen it in person.

Reagan nods, her face miserable. "And he won't talk much, but I know my Soulmate's Peter, and I think he was Soulless up until Harry died."

Abby can't say she's surprised, but it's still a pretty solid blow. To know that this girl in front of her- no older than eighteen- lost her Soulmate at an age before Uncle Casey even  _met_ his, is pretty intense.

"Have you two talked about it in person?" Abby asks.

Reagan shakes her head. "No."

"Have you tried?" Abby says, as gently as she can, and Reagan shakes her head again.

"Not really. Every time we start talking, the only comfortable place to start talking is the topic of Ranger stuff, and that always ends up with a fight because despite the fact that I'm willing to fight dirty against the monsters, but always want a plan so we can minimize collateral damage as much as possible, while Peter is more adaptable than I am and prefers not to go with the plan, as he doesn't care as much about collateral damage."

Now  _that's_ something Abby didn't pick up on from their arguments- or at least, not in those terms. "He doesn't care as much about collateral damage?"

"He just cares about taking out the monster, no matter the cost," Reagan says, "And his attention toward collateral damage is not as...exacting as mine, or Jacob, or Christina's."

Now that's something that has got to have some kind of backstory behind it. Outside of dealing with monsters (and, to be honest, Reagan), Peter tends to be a pretty kind person. After all, she did find him trying to protect an entire school at risk to his own life. Maybe his lack of planning and caution has to do with a certain recklessness and disregard for personal safety rather than lack of care.

"I'll talk to him, okay?" Reagan says. "I promise. I don't want this team to fall apart anymore than you do."

Abby stares at Reagan for a moment, taking in the fact that this seventeen-year-old is speaking so seriously. Reagan is, generally speaking, doing a pretty damn good job as a Red Ranger, and Abby finds herself being pretty proud of Abby. Sure, she has a tendency to argue with her Black Ranger or to fight dirty, but no one's flawless. Christina has a perfectionist streak, Jacob a tendency to over-analyze, and Peter is reckless.

(And don't even get Abby started on previous Reds and their issues. From her Uncle Casey and his emotional constipation issues to even her cousin Bridge, currently a Red, and his insanely short attention span, Reds have a really big tendency to have personality issues that need to be worked through. Abby's actually surprised that Reagan's are honestly not that bad.)

"Thanks," Abby says. 

-

Reagan and Peter should have gotten their tension worked out, but things are still not entirely going right. They're still arguing, still barely restrained from each others' throats.

Abby knows there's no way they talked their Soulmate issues out, and her own conversation with Reagan didn't have much of an impact. Looks like she's gonna have to call in the big guns.

-

Abby calls her parents for help only once, and that's when she needs advice not on providing tech and advice to the team but instead on Soulmate issues. She's fine with her tech so far (and besides, if she needed help with tech she'd call Billy Cranston, not her lovely father and mother whose specialties are decidedly within the physical and interpersonal arenas versus the technological arena).

"I need help getting two of my Rangers to admit that they're each other's Soulmates," she says, and her mom immediately snorts while her dad rolls his eyes.

"You should probably ask Casey about that," Her dad says, a certain wry note to his voice. "He definitely knows a thing or two about admitting his Soulmate status in the most dramatic way possible."

"I don't want my Rangers to go through the Rhodes tragedy of emotional constipation," Abby says, "My Red and Black Rangers are a bit emotionally withdrawn, but they're not as much of idiots as Uncle Casey was."

Her mom grins. "I'll tell him you said that."

Abby shrugs. "Uncle Casey knows he was a confused bitch who didn't know how to handle his emotions properly."

Her dad barks out a laugh. "I'm  _definitely_ telling him you said that."

Her mom nudges her dad in the shoulder. "Don't you dare."

"Casey loves Abby- he'll probably enjoy that."

"But  _anyway_ ," Abby interjects. Her parents are kinda cute when they get like that, but their banter is kinda distracting at the moment. "Back to the issue at hand."

"Fine, we'll try to help," Her dad says, "Just explain what's going on."

She lays out the details of the situation- Reagan's dead Soulmate, Reagan and Peter being Soulmates, and the suspicion that Peter was Soulless before this year. She can see the sympathy in her parents' faces at the small tragedy she's telling, and that observation is only affirmed when her mom speaks.

"Fucking monsters," her mom mutters, tone taking a very uncharacteristically dark tone. "It's always them."

"Technically Casey and RJ's Soulmate issues were _Casey's_ fault," her dad points out, but her mom waves her hand dismissively.

"Casey and RJ's problems stemmed from outdated traditions from the Order of the Claw," her mom says, "And were revealed by a monster."

"Are you saying I gotta get a monster in here to get them to admit the truth?" Abby asks, slightly incredulous. It's not the weirdest thing her parents have suggested over the years, but it is certainly a rather strange suggestion.

"We're certainly not saying that, Abby," her mom says, "We're just saying that it might take something...less than ideal to get them to open up to each other, okay?"

Despite all of her years of studying Rangers- as well as years as a child, listening to her family's stories about Soulmates and how they met theirs- Abby really doesn't get Soulmates. She's not romantically or sexually inclined in the  _least_ _,_ and the idea of other people being that way she logically gets, but doesn't quite understand.

"Well, I'll try," Abby says, and her parents give her those  _good-job-we-approve_ smiles that they gave her every time she won a science fair or got accepted into some program or college. She's not going to deny that she preens a bit under their positive attention- she loves her parents a lot, and even though she's an adult she still likes making them proud.

-

And Abby  _does_ try, but all of her attempts at surprise dates and other such activities fail miserably. She just doesn't  _get_ romantic relationships.

So of course, despite all of her efforts, it takes monsters to get Reagan and Peter to admit their feelings.

-

They're in the middle of a team meeting, and they're trying to figure out Morgana's weaknesses. After fighting a few of her monsters, Abby has some more confidence than she did to begin with, but Big Bads are a completely different level of villain than your monster-of-the-week.

"She doesn't seem to have any weaknesses," Jacob says, "She's a mother goddess who named herself after one of the most powerful sorceresses in Western legend."

"Means she's pretty damn arrogant," Christina says. "She's just taken out a few buildings, and other than the attacks before we came onto the scene, we've just had a few minor civilian injuries.

"Well, we can't underestimate her," Reagan says, "She has a shit ton of power and she's nod afraid to use it."

Peter nods, for once in agreement with his Red. "She _is_ a monster," he says, "And a killer."

Abby glances at Reagan, but she doesn't flinch or even react to the comment. When she looks back at Peter, on the other hand, he seems to have just gotten started with whatever his rant is on.

"She's done more than just destroy some buildings. She killed Marco!" Peter practically screams. "He's  _dead_!" He turns to Reagan, and there's something dead and sad in his gaze. "And _you're_ here, and he's not, and-" 

 _Marco_? Christina mouths, and Abby agrees. Who's that, and how the fuck is he getting Peter to finally admit something about his personal life?

But from the way Reagan's gaze softens she seems to understand. "So did Harry," she says, voice gentle. "In the monster attacks, right?"

Peter seems like he's collapsing in on himself, the world falling down around his shoulders as he nods. "His Marks disappeared in January, yeah."

"Two months before mine showed up?" Reagan prompts, and Christina and Jacob's jaws drop.

But the real punch to the gut happens when Peter's head falls forward slightly, as if surrendering, and he nods.

But it seems like Reagan really has taken Abby's advice to heart.

"I'm not going to try and replace Marco," she promises. "Just like you're not going to replace Harry. But we  _can_ help each other move on, okay? We're teammates and we may not be each other's first Soulmates, but we  _are_ Soulmates now. And I'm here for you, just like you're here for me, and I'm not him- I'll never be him- but I am me, and that'll have to be enough for you."

Peter looks at Reagan, eyes watery, then steps forward and flings his arms around her. Reagan nearly stumbles back, clearly not expecting the movement, but quickly relaxes as she raises her arms to his shoulders.

"You're enough," Peter babbles, "You're more than enough, and I'm sorry-" 

Abby's heart clenches for these poor kids- neither a day over seventeen when they lost their Soulmate- and the tragedy they've gone through. No one deserves to lose someone they love, to go through such pain and grief.

But at least they've figured out what's going on between them. That's one hurdle cleared in Abby's role as mentor and tech. She's just really glad she didn't have to engage in any of the fighting.

She gestures to Christina and Jacob and mouths  _let's let them be._ The Yellow and Blue Rangers nod and follow her out.

"So," Abby says, "That happened."

Jacob lets out a nervous laugh. "Yep, that did."

"So we've got two pairs of Soulmates on the team now," Christina- who always likes to keep things organized, who has an eye for order and a perfectionist streak to rival Abby's dad- says. "That's nice and balanced now."

Abby nods. "Let's just hope that when I add a new Morpher to the team, it won't upset that balance."

"You're adding a new Morpher?" Jacob asks, and Abby nods.

Reagan and Peter are getting along now, even advancing in their relationship, but now Abby just has to deal with the next problem- that of a team that is strong, but isn't nearly strong enough to deal with Morgana and her monsters and her "nature spirits." Looks like the job of a mentor/tech (and Abby  _has_ to come up with a better nickname for the job than that) is never done. 

No Ranger team has ever won with only five Rangers before, much less only four. The Orion Rangers need a fifth Ranger, and they need him or her soon.

"We need more power," Abby says, worrying her teeth over her bottom lip. "We can't survive much longer without another Ranger."

"You have any idea who's going to get the Morpher?" Christina says, and Abby shrugs.

"We'll get there when we get there," she says. "You don't happen to have any friends with convenient martial arts training, do you?"

Jacob snorts and tries to give her an apologetic smile. "Nope, just the two of us."

"And you don't think that any of Peter's theatre friends happen to have stage fighting training that they could adapt to fighting monsters?"

"Peter's definitely one of a kind," Christina says, nose wrinkled in an expression halfway between disgust and respect.

Jacob smiles at his Soulmate. "Just like you, honey." 

-

Sometimes, when Abby's sitting in their base- the apartment next to hers, modelled into a temporary base- and working on the Green Morpher, she summons her lion spirit and lets it pace the room, looking over her tech and her Rangers' loose belongings, strewn all over the floor. There's notebooks of Jacob's, their resident nerd, a few screwdrivers of Christina's, who's a mechanic at the car shop down the road, a script of Peter's, who is planning on becoming an actor, and a hoodie of Reagan's, who left most of her stuff at home when she moved here.

But even with all the team drama, Abby hasn't felt this at home since the days when she was a little kid, Bridge helping her build catapults out of Legos and her parents watching over them while their Uncles brought over pizza. These kids- well, they're only four years younger than her, but they're pretty much kids to Abby- have burrowed into her life and made themselves at home, despite their bickering and mash of personalities and fighting styles.

It kind of makes her want to call up Uncle RJ and thank him for taking care of her parents and Uncle Casey back in the day, for helping create a family for all of them to continue in to this day. 

- 

Abby's Morpher schematics have been adapted as best she can to that of a fifth Green Morpher, who she's trying to figure out an ability to grift into the Morpher, but she needs a new Power Source. The other four Morphers harness a person's bioenergy and the Power, but this Morpher she can't quite get to calibrate to a human energy signature.

Wait a moment.  _Human_ energy signature?

Abby digs her mother's Morpher out of the safe under her desk and remembers how the power mechanism on the Morpher glasses are designed to calibrate to an animal spirit- in her Mother's case, the cheetah.

She remembers Master Jarrod, who currently teaches at the Pai Zhua Academy, and the times he dropped by Ocean Bluff to teach her how to harness the lion spirit they both share. She remembers the way she had to learn to summon the spirit, how animal spirits are connected to the Jungle Fury Morphers. Spirit's aren't just for meditation and strength and comfort- they can also be used to wage war, to take down demons and Beast Kings and empires.

She could make a Morpher calibrated to an animal spirit instead of a human biosignature. That would definitely be enough to power a Morpher, and give their fifth Ranger the extra energy necessary to combat Morgana and Mordred for now.

She grins, drops her mom's Morpher down onto the desk, and grabs for a loose hairtie sitting in the corner of her desk. It's time to get to work, and she works far better with her hair up and back than hanging down around her face.

She slings her hair back into a ponytail, grabs for a pencil and a screwdriver, and gets to work. 

-

She calls up Uncle RJ and Billy on a joint e-comm call. "Do you have to only calibrate a Morpher to one animal spirit, or can you calibrate it to respond to any animal spirit?"

"We only got the Morphers to calibrate to a single spirit each," Billy says, "Though the glasses showed some potential for a bit of expanding."

"But you're brilliant, Abs," Uncle RJ says, and he's gotten to the age- over fifty, by this point- where his "wise" persona actually kind of fits his appearance and his gray-streaked hair. "Even if we couldn't do it, you can."

Billy nods through the screen. "You want us to send you the blueprints and notes we still have for the animal spirit Morphers?"

"I have Mom's Morpher to deconstruct and look at, but your notes will probably be useful," Abby says. "Scan them and send them over, if you don't mind?"

"Sure thing," Billy says.

"Need any other help?" Uncle RJ asks, and a few weeks back she might have asked him about Soulmates but Reagan and Peter seem to be getting along pretty well- she saw them on their own last week in a cafe in town, sitting at a table together and smiling. 

So Abby just shakes her head. "Thanks, but I think I've got it."

"I'm really proud of you, you know?" Uncle RJ says, smile less serene and more sincere than she thinks she's ever seen it. "You've become a tech and a mentor in your own right, and you're doing a pretty terrific job."

She grins. "Thanks, Uncle RJ." It means a lot, coming from a man that ranks pretty damn high on the list of mentors she's gathered from her interviews with Rangers over the years. 

"No problem, Abs," he says, "You're not just my little goddaughter anymore. You're all grown up, and you're pretty damn amazing."

-

It takes a number of tries, but eventually Abby has her fifth Morpher almost ready. Theoretically it will function with any animal spirit, but the only one she's actually tested it with was a sliver of her lion spirit. She didn't bond with it, though, because  _hell_ no does she want to fight- but she did test it as much as she could. 

While the rest of the Project Orion Morphers are shaped like small tubes- they hang off of lanyards around her Rangers' necks, like the Dino Charge Rangers still wear their Energems to this day- the Green Morpher, due to its different energy mechanism, is shaped like a ring, big enough to be worn as a bracelet on whoever becomes the Green Ranger or light enough to be strung on a lanyard around the neck if it doesn't fit the wrist. (She hopes that whoever becomes the Green Ranger has a wrist similar size to hers- it'll make things a lot easier if they can just wear it as a bracelet.)

Abby sits back in her seat and breathes a sigh of relief. Now she just has to find a good fit for the Green Ranger, a teenager with spirit and heroism and the actual desire to fight.

-

But it's only the next day that a new monster attacks and uses a spell that disables her Rangers' Morphers, leaving them UnMorphed with only their wits and their training to fight the monsters.

And she knows as well as she knows the lion spirit in her chest that they'll fall. This isn't like the time Uncle Casey had his tiger spirit stolen in the middle of battle and the rest of the team had to keep the fight going while he was down for the count- no, this is Abby's whole team down.

She no longer gets the option of waiting for the perfect Green Ranger. There is no time to find a replacement. It's her or no one else.

Abby swallows painfully. She never wanted to be a Ranger. She learned how to use her animal spririt to calm her mind and because she was just curious about the whole process. She never liked the idea of charging into battle, trying to be a hero and save the world. Her parents and Uncles are far better suited to bravery, to fighting and slaying. Abby has always wanted to be the one in the background of a fight, acting as support and mentor without having to make any physical blows.

But she can't let her Rangers fall. She made this team, gave these kids the Morphers that has them in battle right now. She is the reason they are fighting, and if they die she'll be the reason they'll come home in body bags.

She has to face her fear. She has to help her team.

Abby grabs her jacket and the Green Morpher, and then runs out the door.

 

_You better wise up, 'cause I'll rise up_

_Bring on any challenge_

_It may not be my quest_

_But maybe it's mine to win_

**Author's Note:**

> In which I am completely willing to expand on this team- backstories, how they became Rangers, further adventures, what happened to Peter and Reagan's first Soulmates, a Sixth Ranger, Mordred's story- if anyone says they want more, and maybe even if they don't, because fuck it, I've gotten attached.


End file.
